Magnesium is Key
To using vitamin D in guarding against Covid-19 and to numerous other health concerns
You have undoubtedly heard or read that taking vitamin D will help strengthen your immune system to guard against Covid-19. While the headlines are true, they are not the whole story. The whole story is more complicated but it is critical to your overall health to appreciate that the need to take magnesium supplements should be part of this advice.
Up to 75 percent of Americans are eating a magnesium deficient diet. Even if you are eating very deliberately to ensure your magnesium intake is adequate, for the reasons below, your diet is unlikely to meet your magnesium needs, particularly if you are taking calcium supplements.
A magnesium deficiency and the health concerns that creates will be exacerbated for anyone who simply follows the advice of headlines and increases vitamin D intake to guard against Covid-19.
Researchers know that Vitamin D, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus are all inexorably linked. Precisely how they are linked is still under investigation. It is known that the relationships between these nutrients should be balanced.
Magnesium is both instrumental in activating vitamin D and in mitigating the potential for damage to bones in the event of an excess of vitamin D.
Vitamin D is considered by researchers to be a steroid hormone rather than a vitamin. It is metabolized in the liver with the aid of magnesium. A deficiency of magnesium will preclude adequate metabolism of vitamin D. However, adequate magnesium seems to mitigate the risks associated with low vitamin D.
Increases and decreases in metabolized vitamin D levels are necessary to ensure that the parathyroid gland is appropriately instructed. Low levels of metabolized vitamin D trigger production of parathyroid hormone (PTH), which causes calcium from the bones into the blood. A lack of vitamin D or magnesium can result in over production of PTH, causing too much calcium to be pulled from the bone.
As calcium moves into the blood, magnesium is essential in metabolizing vitamin D, which causes active vitamin D levels to rise. When active vitamin D levels rise, this signals the parathyroid to cease production of PTH so that no further calcium is pulled from the bones. If metabolized vitamin D is overly abundant, release of PTH may not be triggered when it is necessary for calcium to be moved into the blood.
If too much calcium is pulled from the bones into the blood, adequate magnesium in the blood will effectively dissolve the calcium and prevent it from being deposited and hardening in soft tissue. In this way, adequate magnesium protects the body against the potentially harmful effects of too much vitamin D.
Magnesium Deficiency — The Reasons and the Consequences
Even where your food tracker indicates that your daily magnesium intake is sufficient you could still have a magnesium deficiency. This is because magnesium may not be present in the soil in which your food was grown or excess potassium or glyphosate in the soil may have interfered with the plant’s ability to absorb magnesium. Where magnesium is present in food it may not be bioavailable to the body. Boiling vegetables can leach the magnesium from the food before it reaches the body, the presence of oxalic acid, tannins or aluminum can block magnesium’s uptake by the body, and when magnesium bonds with fluoride in the body (often ingested via food, water or medications) this renders magnesium useless. Finally, alcohol, caffeine, fructose, stress, soft water and sweating all deplete the body of magnesium.
Magnesium is involved in 700 to 800 different chemical processes in the body. Perhaps most critically, it is key to the adenosine triphosphate cycle which provides cellular energy. So, if you are regularly feeling fatigued for no clear reason, magnesium supplementation may be a place to start.
Dr. Carolyn Dean, a physician and naturopath, is a well-known authority on magnesium. In her book, The Magnesium Miracle, she identifies more than 40 medical conditions associated with magnesium deficiency. These conditions include fatigue, migraines, female infertility, inflammation, arthritis, certain autoimmune conditions, anxiety, neuropathy, depression, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, asthma, and cardiovascular disease. The list is highly varied so if you have any health concerns it is well worth asking yourself if they might be related to a magnesium deficiency.
Testing for Magnesium Deficiency
While many physicians are likely to request serum magnesium tests where a magnesium deficiency is suspected, serum magnesium testing is ill-advised. Where the blood is deficient in magnesium the body will move magnesium from the bones and tissues into the blood since magnesium must be present in the blood in order for the body to perform vital functions. Consequently, serum magnesium may test normal despite an individual’s lack of magnesium in the bone and tissue. In order of accuracy, ionized magnesium testing (not commonly available), white blood cell testing, and red blood cell testing are preferred over serum testing for magnesium levels.
Magnesium Supplements, Amount and Options
To process calcium and vitamin D correctly, your body must have access to an adequate supply of magnesium. Dr. Dean recommends a 1:1 ratio between calcium and magnesium. Other medical researchers recommend a 1.7:1 ratio. This ratio is not yet well-settled, and proponents of a particular ratio point to serious cardiac events being associated with alternative ratios. It may be that the range of variables necessary to factor into this question have not been considered in the various trials.
As discussed above, there are a number of factors that may preclude magnesium from being ingested or available to the body. The more of these factors that are present in a particular individual, the more likely it would be beneficial to strive for a 1:1 ratio. It is also worth noting that calcium is better absorbed by the body than magnesium and much of the calcium ingested is stored in the body while magnesium needs to be replenished daily. Excess calcium can be detrimental to both bones and soft tissue. Magnesium helps the body to deal appropriately with excess calcium. I would suggest that for many people, all of these considerations argue in favor of erring towards a 1:1 ratio between calcium and magnesium.
Fortunately, magnesium intake is somewhat naturally regulated. Excessive magnesium supplementation leads to a laxative effect. Once this point is reached, either a new form of magnesium can be ingested if a higher magnesium level is desirable or the supplement dose can be adjusted downwards to a level where this problem is resolved.
With regard to the question of which magnesium supplement to take, there are as many different answers as there are supplements. The only fairly consistent conclusion is that magnesium oxide is poorly absorbed relative to other forms of magnesium. Dr. Dean recommends her own liquid magnesium chloride supplement. A study funded by the patent holder established that this product offers superior absorption. Other studies have concluded that magnesium chloride is highly bioavailable.
The answer to which of magnesium citrate, magnesium malate, magnesium chloride or magnesium bisglycinate is better absorbed remains elusive, as there are studies that conclude favorably for each of these forms.
Dr. Andrew Saul, a well-known vitamin expert, recommends supplementing with magnesium citrate. Given the lack of clarity on the optimal formulation, I would suggest starting with a magnesium citrate supplement, and if magnesium levels test low after a few months, transitioning to another form of magnesium.
